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In celebration of Community Manager Appreciation Day, I am releasing the results of a collaborative project collecting songs about community management. See below for fun and eccentric music!

I discovered Jason Miller'sWelcome to the Funnel (a play on Guns n' Roses' Welcome to the Jungle, for those of you not in the know) in October and it gave me hope that maybe there was an audience who believed as I did--that music does have utility and relevance for business. All year, I'd held back for a variety of reasons I will explore in a future post.

An additional giant virtual shout out to Susan Silver who helped normalize the lyrics data from contributors so I could create this word cloud from the songs (ah the dominance of refrains). I've invited Susan to share more about what she did in a future post and if you geek out on data, Susan is launching a new blog here today!

About the Songs

Explicit. For those of you AT work- two community managers noted that their songs had explicit lyrics: Champion by Kanye West from Matt Saunders and Bad Days by Kicking Tuesday from Evan Hamilton (not part of the playlist).

Just the Music. Marc Siegel notes that his choice of My Body by Young the Giant is, "simply about the beat and not about lyrics." Also in this category Peter Trapasso chose Freddie Freeloader by Miles Davis and Kay Berkel chose Slow Blues, by Wu-Tang--an instrumental piece. About Slow Blues, Kay writes, " It reminds me of my community work because it is cool, unique, and it's from a CD entitled Think Differently Music. Isn't that we do every day?"

Select Stories Behind the Song Choices

Shelley Webb chose Smash Mouth's Walkin' on the Sun because she is both a community manager and a social media marketer. "Sometimes my clients may have unrealistic expectations such as 10,000 organic Twitter followers in 1 month, a video that goes viral overnight, or an immediate 100% increase in revenue. It is at those times I think to myself. You might as well be walkin' on the sun. :)"

Susan Silver quotes the lyrics in Say, by Cat Power because they remind her of the importance of clear communication.

Learn to say the same thing
What defeats people is a double confession
One time they will confess one thing
And the next they will confess something else

Sasha Cagenchose Feist's song I Feel It All, "because it recognizes the sensitive souls, and I am certainly one of those. My sensitivity is what has allowed me to write with precision about the emotional experience of being quirkyalone and that description in my work is what has drawn together a community. In a world where sensitivity can feel like a burden, even something to be ashamed of, this song makes me feel in tune with me."

Sharon Lina Pearceand I both chose Rush's Closer to the Heart but for different reasons. Once I discovered this, I went with Rush's The Trees instead because it tells a story about a community in conflict.

Sharon shared the inspiring image above to go with her song and quotes the lyrics to acknowledge that "Everyone doing their best in their area of expertise. These are the building blocks of a community which can be cemented together with collaboration."

The blacksmith and the artist
Reflect it in their art
They forge their creativity
Closer to the heart

Lindsay Stärke writes, Pretty much the entire Gogol Bordello catalog is about community--immigrant community, punk rock community, local community, international community. But this song is all about making connections with others and finding your tribe:

On intersection of all dimensions
Where I was stoppin' by just for a drink
I meet a brother from tribal connection
And together we began to sing
We gonna turn frustration into inspiration
Whatever demons are there, we gonna set them free
Such is the method of tribal connection
Of our fun loving restless breed

Of her choice of the song Secret Crowds, Julie Hamel writes, "This the perfect representation of how I feel about every community I've had the chance to touch, the customers and teams I've worked with: passion, love and the desire to create the best possible experience for all, always. It also represents the power of communities, people gathering around common interests to support each other, their ability to make an impact and to create positive change together:

Of These Are the Days by 10,000 Maniacs, Lynn Abaté-Johnson writes, "These really are the days we as a community will remember because the best of us, the most conscious and conscientious of us, are forging new ground, laying a strong, rock-solid foundation for generations of community builders to come.

I'm on Standby by Grandaddy is Jill Hundley-Keefer's song. If you listen in context of her comment, it is hilarious. She says, "This song always pops in my head when I am doing a community management project launch or platform update."

Of his choice of Sé Lest by Sigur Rós, Ariel Viera writes about the concert film where a marching band is playing this song throughout a little Icelandic neighborhood. "As they play their tune, the community comes out to experience this magically spontaneous performance together." For Ariel, music has always been about the community -- about listening to something together with friends and strangers alike and sharing this experience that can't be relived or recreated.

Rich Reader runs a Facebook discussion group called Wine Aficionados, about wine appreciation. Joni Mitchell's A Case of You is, "...about being determined, caring intensely about the feelings that we share, and pouring our energy into each other around the people/matters that we care about."

For those of you not using Spotify, you can scan below to learn about all the participants and the songs they shared:

I’ve been thinking a lot about community and music. Both are deep passions of mine and in honor of 2016’s Community Manager Appreciation Day, I am compiling “Songs of Community Management” to bring us together around music and meaningful stories that uplift us, helps us process situations, or perhaps whose lyrics just perfectly tell the circumstances we live and breathe every day.

Participate by entering your song, story and details here and on January 25th, I'll be compiling all the songs and the best stories I receive with full credit back to each participant. I'll do a roundup and recap here on the Communituity Point of View blog.

Every community person I’ve talked to about this project immediately has a song they want to share…but I’d guess there are a few who need some examples to get the juices flowing. While this isn’t my song, I’ve played it a lot at times while in community roles. I love the drama and crescendo--and frankly, it lightens the mood a bit because it is so heavy and dramatic. All I can do is chuckle when I hear it. It's O Fortuna from Carmina Burana:

Think about what gets you going, makes you feel good or helps you get through tense times. Maybe it is:

• Huey Lewis and the News’ Power of Love
• Struggling? Transitioning into community from another role at your company and trying to make your inroads and meet new challenges? Maybe you feel like you’re on the receiving end of Janet Jackson’s What Have You Done for Me Lately?
• Streaming music channel lover? If you stream a certain genre, name a key artist who is part of your channel. What's that one anchor song that you find yourself coming back to?